


The Origins of a Reluctant Superhero

by DarkAkumaHunter



Series: Reading Between the Lines [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Miraculous Ladybug Origins, post identity reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 18:52:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12990357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAkumaHunter/pseuds/DarkAkumaHunter
Summary: Having opened the lid on their best kept secrets, Marinette and Adrien now have people they can confide in about superhero stuff. But Alya can't resist the quest for answers forever, and eventually something was going to have to give.(that might sound angsty or something but I just couldn't think of a decent summary for this)





	The Origins of a Reluctant Superhero

**Author's Note:**

> I said this was only going to be three parts but here's another small piece because apparently I can't help myself?

Even before they started dating, Marinette and Alya had always spent a lot of time together. It just so happened that, after that emotional afternoon of secrets shared and burdens halved, their dynamic duo occasionally became a trio.

Whenever he had free time – which meant whenever he could sneak out of the house, because his actual scheduled free time was usually dedicated to Nino – Adrien started visiting more often than he had when they were just Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

For the briefest of moments, that first time after it all went down, Marinette had worried that the dynamic would be weird between the three of them. A lot of things had changed that day, after all. But it turned out to be a needless worry.

As a matter of fact, Adrien seemed more comfortable than ever. Having people around that knew he was Chat Noir meant there was finally a safe space where he could truly be himself without worrying about how other people might react, or the possibility that he might draw suspicion upon himself by acting just a little too much like Chat Noir when he was supposed to be Adrien Agreste.

It was one such get-together, about a month or so after that fateful day, when Alya finally reached the limit of her patience and started digging for info on their sordid superhero origin stories.

“So,” she began, in a faux-innocent tone that neither Marinette nor Adrien bought for a single second. “I think I’ve been pretty good, not badgering you two for deets, letting you talk about superhero stuff at your own pace, and I feel like maybe I deserve a reward for restraining my burning journalistic curiosity.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. She sat up from where she’d been lying with her head pillowed on Alya’s thigh, Adrien sprawled on the mattress beside them.

“If you’re angling for a kiss there are less dramatic ways to go about it.”

Adrien muffled a snort of laughter in a pillow as Alya put a hand to her chest in mock outrage.

“I would _never_ engage in underhanded tactics for affection. Who do you think I am? _Obviously_ this is about _in-for-ma-tion._ ” She dragged the last word out, poking Marinette in the forehead for emphasis.

Marinette swatted her finger away with an indulgent smile.

“Okay, okay, what do you want to know?”

Alya grinned triumphantly, but then her demeanour became a bit more serious.

“How did you become Ladybug?”

Adrien perked up a little at the question. Obviously he expected it to be something similar to himself, but even amongst themselves they’d never talked about it.

Marinette knew Alya wasn’t asking about the mechanics – she was more than familiar now with Plagg and Tikki, and since they no longer had to run and hide from each other during an attack, she had seen them transform several more times since that first day.

“It’s not super interesting,” Marinette said sheepishly, scratching at her cheek. “It’s a little embarrassing actually. I don’t want to ruin your image of Ladybug.”

Adrien sat up too, and suddenly they were all sitting in a circle on Marinette’s bed.

“The first time I met you – Ladybug that is – you fell out of the sky.”

Marinette groaned, remembering that incident in perfect clarity.

“It was my first time using my yoyo, I had no idea what I was doing!”

Alya snickered, no doubt envisioning the incident based on Marinette’s usual day-to-day clumsiness.

“And not just that, I nearly introduced myself with my real name!”

“Okay, that _would_ have been a pretty amateur mistake,” Adrien allowed.

Marinette huffed, but he wasn’t wrong. She’d been so flustered and confused and she hadn’t known what she was doing at all.

“Well, speaking of amateur mistakes, you totally didn’t even give Plagg a chance to explain your powers before you rushed off, did you? You were so surprised when your cataclysm was a one-time use power.”

Laughing, Adrien didn’t even try and deny it.

“Yeah, I may have been a little too excited to sit around and listen to silly little things like _explanations_.”

“That was in the stadium when Ivan got akumatized, right?” Alya asked.

The superheroes both nodded.

“Honestly? I was terrified. I only managed to gather enough courage to jump into the fray after you yelled at me Alya. And after, when I messed up and didn’t purify the akuma, it just cemented what I’d been feeling ever since Tikki showed up with the miraculous: I wasn’t cut out to be a superhero.”

Alya and Adrien both frowned at her. Surely it wasn’t that surprising a notion?

“Seriously. When Ivan transformed again I put my miraculous in Alya’s bag. With the way she rushed in headfirst just for information, I figured she’d make a way better Ladybug than me. But you didn’t take your bag with you, so I ended up chasing you through the streets, and when you got trapped by that car I couldn’t just stand there and not do anything, so I put the earrings back on.”

Marinette looked down at her hands. They only knew the competent Ladybug, and even knowing that Ladybug was also clumsy Marinette they probably hadn’t yet truly made the connection that that meant Ladybug was uncertain as well.

“Mari, that just means you were scared. Everyone gets scared. But people were in danger and you stepped up, in spite of your fear. I think that says more about your suitability than a little indecision, don’t you Adrien?”

“Exactly. Although, now that you mention it, I do remember you saying something like that back in the beginning.”

“I did. But you – Chat Noir – convinced me that maybe I wasn’t quite as useless as I thought I was. If you weren’t there it might’ve taken a long time for me to find the confidence within myself to really _be_ Ladybug, instead of just reluctantly coming out when people I knew were in danger.”

“Well, for the record, I never doubted you for a single second,” Adrien assured.

“Neither did I!” Alya seconded.

Smiling softly, Marinette basked in the positivity and fierce belief of her closest friends.

“Anyway,” Alya said suddenly. “I’m glad that whole thing where you tried to trick me into becoming Ladybug didn’t pan out. Writing a blog about myself like that is a level of narcissism I hope I never reach.”

The three of them dissolved into laughter, imagining life and the _Ladyblog_ with Alya wearing the mask. Marinette had no doubt that she would kick ass, but it would mess up her journalism.

Everything just worked out better this way.

Marinette no longer had those same sorts of doubts about being Ladybug – hadn’t in a long time – but that didn’t mean she was never uncertain. Maybe now she could shape her shaky beginning into new strength, to remind herself that sometimes it was okay to rely on someone else’s belief in you when you didn’t believe in yourself, and to make that your power. Between Adrien and Alya, Marinette didn’t think she’d ever be lacking in that department.


End file.
